Soundings, November 2001

Many surveys taken in the wake of September 11's terrorist attacks indicate an overwhelming amount of support for President George Bush and his planned war on terrorism.

On September 14 in an article entitled "Polls indicate Americans are united in anger," the Associated Press reported the results of polls taken by: ABC and the Washington Post, CBS, CNN and Time Magazine, and NBC—all of which reflected huge margins favoring a strong military response and a strong backing of the president.

"By more than a 2-1 margin, people said they were more concerned that the country would underreact, not overreact," says the article. Other key findings in these polls, according to the AP, were: terrorism was considered the top problem faced by the country; about nine in ten surveyed favored tougher safeguards on air travel, in spite of long delays; large majorities said the attacks "made them more likely to show more appreciation of loved ones, fly the flag, pray more and donate blood"; and nine in ten had faith that America will recover and move on.

Polls from the Gallup Organization report findings similar to those reportedby the AP. In data released on October 3, Gallup indicates that support for the "war on terrorism" rivals support for American involvement in World War II. "According to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Sept. 21-22," reads the report, "89% of Americans say the United States should take military action in retaliation for the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, while just 7% disagree." Support for retaliation after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, according to Gallup, was 97 percent.

In an October 8 report released from Gallup, data from a survey taken on October 7 indicates that 92 percent of those surveyed approve of the way that President Bush is handling the campaign against terrorism. The same report revealed that 72 percent of survey participants think that the United States waited the right amount of time before taking military action. And, when asked about support of possible future military actions, 77 percent favor the use of ground troops in Afghanistan, and 65 percent favor military action even if Afghan citizens are killed as a result.